January 16, 2015, 2:43PM

At the first meeting of the new Harahan City Council, there was one matter of old business: whether to adjust the 2014 budget. At issue was transferring $372,000 from a capital projects account to the operating budget. The last-minute amendment was recommended by the Louisiana legislative auditor's office, city attorney David Courcelle told the council Thursday night. "I did... Full story »

January 15, 2015, 9:22PM

Harahan's new mayor Tina Miceli reversed course on Thursday at the city's council meeting, when she put forward three nominations for the city's legal team. On Thursday afternoon, Miceli said she would withdraw the nominations. She had made the decision to withdraw amid questioning Thursday afternoon from NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune on the backgrounds of the candidates. As Miceli led... Full story »

January 15, 2015, 8:24PM

On Thursday evening, Harahan's City Hall smelled of paint. The council chambers had been re-painted, stripped of the framed portraits of former city mayors and swathed in a new layer of off-white. "We've kind of freshened up the city council chamber. We're in the process," said Harahan Mayor Tina Miceli. "You're probably still smelling the fumes." New paint was... Full story »

January 15, 2015, 4:41PM

Less than five hours before her first City Council meeting since taking office, Harahan Mayor Tina Miceli on Thursday abruptly withdrew the names of three lawyers she had planned to nominate for the city's legal team. "I will not be making any appointments tonight," Miceli said. The about-face came just a day after she said in an interview that she would... Full story »

January 11, 2015, 5:48PM

Harahan Mayor Tina Miceli promised citizens a "paradigm shift" at an inauguration ceremony on Sunday where Miceli, Police Chief Tim Walker, and five City Council members were sworn into office. In a speech that received a standing ovation, Miceli described how she would seek to retain Harahan's small-town charms while bringing the city of 9,000 up to speed. "We will... Full story »

December 30, 2014, 2:37PM

Over the past four years, it has not been unusual for the glass doors of Harahan's City Hall to swing open and welcome a silver-haired singer who croons in Italian, or a delivery of deli sandwiches flown in from New York, or the former New Orleans madam who operated the infamous Canal Street brothel. They come to City Hall for... Full story »

December 23, 2014, 5:13PM

Harahan police officers will beef up their neighborhood patrols for the remainder of the holiday season starting Tuesday (Dec. 23). The department will have an undisclosed number of marked and unmarked police cars making rounds in the city in addition to the two to three units who normally make up a patrol platoon, Chief Tim Walker said. The extra patrols... Full story »

December 19, 2014, 4:47PM

After 22 years as an elected official, Harahan Mayor Vinny Mosca said goodbye as briefly as he could. "I prepared a rather lengthy speech that I cut down by an hour and a half," Mosca said. It was one of the last trademark one liners from an official as well known for his humor as he is for his creative political... Full story »

December 19, 2014, 4:43PM

For one Harahan City Council candidate, filing her campaign finance report 10 days late will cost her almost 10 percent of the money she raised for the campaign. Susan Benton, who reported receiving $4,750 in contributions, was slapped with a $400 late fee Thursday by the state Ethics Board. Benton was elected to the council on Nov. 4. The late report covered... Full story »

December 18, 2014, 10:10PM

A series of proposed revisions to Harahan's 2014 budget Thursday (Dec. 18) flustered council members, who voted to hold a special meeting on Monday to clear up a laundry-list of concerns. The draft of revisions to the 2014 budget showed cash moving from department to department, item to item, and spending ballooning from $5.4 million allocated in June to a... Full story »

December 18, 2014, 9:54PM

At Thursday evening's (Dec. 18) Harahan City Council meeting, heartfelt goodbyes could not completely cover up a case of petty politics. The City Council voted against a salary shift that would have affected the incoming class of elected officials by increasing the salaries of council members while nixing a $350 car allowance for the city's mayor. Ahead of the vote, constituents called the... Full story »

December 18, 2014, 3:43PM

If the Harahan City Council does not amend its 2014 budget Thursday night, the legislative auditor's office will have grounds for the second consecutive year to cite the city for illegally overspending. It's a case of déjà vu, with Mayor Vinny Mosca's administration on track to spend $5.8 million even though the council authorized only $5.4 million. State law allows... Full story »

November 25, 2014, 3:08PM

On Nov. 4, Vinny Mosca lost his first election in almost 20 years. For two decades, the colorful Harahan mainstay had hopped between seats on the City Council and the mayor's office, thanks in part to his quick wit and creative workarounds. A criminal defense attorney with a reputation for cutting deals for clients through skillful mediation, Mosca ran for mayor... Full story »

November 20, 2014, 9:44PM

Like other candidates who won seats on the Harahan City Council at the Nov. 4 election, Craig Johnston took a minute at the Thursday (Nov. 20) council meeting to thank voters. But Johnston distanced himself from the pack when he quickly segued into harsh criticism of an item that the council was scheduled to review: whether to give themselves and... Full story »

November 20, 2014, 9:24PM

Harahan voters will decide in a special election whether to renew a property tax that generates $403,730 for the Fire Department, as the Harahan City Council voted unanimously on Thursday to ask for the renewal. The special election will be held on March 28, 2015. If approved by voters, the 5-mill tax would remain in place for 10 years, from... Full story »

November 20, 2014, 9:10PM

Harahan Mayor Vinny Mosca spent Thursday's (Nov. 20) meeting of the Harahan City Council on something of an apology tour. It was his penultimate session behind the dais, after a career in Harahan politics that has lasted for 22 years. And Mosca spent it bowing down to those he may have wronged -- and slipping in a few of his trademark... Full story »

November 20, 2014, 11:13AM

Harahan elected officials have painted a picture of a cash-strapped city as they asked voters to support a new tax for police and praised the sales tax revenue that could come from a proposed strip mall. But to judge by the agenda before the Harahan City Council on Thursday (Nov. 20), the city has some change to spare. At their first... Full story »

November 04, 2014, 10:45PM

Harahan voters on Tuesday elected incumbents Tim Baudier and Dana Huete and three other candidates to the City Council. Among the losers on the 10-candidate ballot was Mayor Vinny Mosca, a fixture in Harahan politics for two decades. The winners are: Mosca has been the mayor or a City Council member continuously since 1994. He chose not to run for... Full story »

November 04, 2014, 5:30AM

What's on Tuesday's ballot in Jefferson Parish? With the polls opening at 6 a.m., these links provide primers on the races and referendums: Several organizations have endorsed candidates. Some are: Full story »